Mumbo Jumbo

Jason Pettus used to be the minister to students at my church. He's a great guy and I enjoyed spending time with him in my brief stint as a volunteer. Jason is now the pastor of Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and I just discovered he has a blog yesterday.

I loved this post of his called Motivational Mumbo Jumbo:

Accordingly, in every age, he who is most forward in extolling the excellence of human nature, is received with the loudest applause. But be this heralding of human excellence what it may, by teaching man to rest in himself, it does nothing more than fascinate by its sweetness, and, at the same time, so delude as to drown in perdition all who assent to it.
-- The Institutes of Christian Religion

This was an overwhelming reminder to me this morning that we must be cautious. We must be cautious that we do not allow ourselves to claim confidence in anyone or anything, but Christ. We must be cautious in who we listen to for advice and direction. We must especially be careful of those who hold a Bible in their hand or claim to be a spokesman for God. There is in every communicator, both secular and spiritual, a desire to be appreciated and noticed. Being celebrated and honored is the temptation of all those who are required by calling to be on the platform and speak.

Those who listen to those on platforms need to make sure that the message is true. Discern what is being taught. Ensure that the speaker is calling you to trust in Christ and see both the beauty of what it means to be an image-bearer of God, but is also honest about our condition as those who have fallen are a plagued with the consequence of sin. In that state of mind we can hope to see our value in God’s eyes and our greatest need met in God’s grace given to us through Christ, His Son.

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